Gold Star Wife
Jane Horton, 26, stands with the American flag which draped the coffin of her husband Army Specialist Christopher Horton, 26, who was killed in Afghanistan in September 2011, outside of her home near Tulsa, OK. Military leaders worry that after 10 years of war, there is a growing disconnect between the tiny minority of Americans [...]
Bridge over River Euphrates
There was a really big surprise waiting for me this morning when I checked my email. A note from an Army public affairs office at Fort Leonard Wood, home of the U.S. Army’s Maneuver Support Center of Excellence in Missouri, was asking permission to use a photo I shot in Iraq in 2003 for publication. [...]
Day One at Camp Victory Iraq
Nearly nine years ago on April 7, 2003, I tagged along with soldiers from the US Army’s 3rd Battalion, 69th Regiment Armor Task Force “Speed And Power” who were serving as the “Point of the Spear” for the 3rd Infantry Division during the Iraq invasion. Entering Baghdad, the 3-69 Task Force fought their way into [...]
Christopher Horton Funeral
I had the honor this morning of walking alongside Army Spc. Christopher Horton, 26, as he was carried to his final resting place following memorial services at Fort Myer, VA to Arlington National Cemetery Section 60 by the Caisson platoon of the 3d United States Infantry “The Old Guard”. Christopher was killed in action [...]
Bowling Jonas
It is not everyday I go to work and end up in a bowling alley. I have to admit it did happen once or twice when I worked in Flint, Michigan right out of college but definitely not much in the last twenty years. Last week, not only was I hanging out at Lucky Strike [...]
Novelist Charles Frazier
Every assignment in my career has always followed a path which constantly reminders me just how fortunate I am to be a photojournalist. Doors open for me that would forever remain closed if not for the cameras dangling from my shoulders. Do I sometimes take this for granted? Definitely. Mostly. But sometimes, it dawns on [...]
Shanksville Flight 93 Memorial
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walked alone in the open expanse of field now a sacred memorial honoring those who died when Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, PA on September 11, 2001. Seeing the President holding the hand of his wife among the wildflowers and tall grass now covering what was scarred [...]
Twenty Hour Wedding Dash
It is not often that I get to New York City on a job. But USA TODAY New York City staffer Robert Deutsch was out and about on vacation last weekend and I got the chance to head to the city from Washington, D.C. for the first time since moving back to the east coast. [...]
WNPA talk in Milwaukee
I had a great time speaking at the Wisconsin News Photographers Convention in Milwaukee, WI along with two incredible photographers – Green Bay Packers team photographer Jim Biever and Minneapolis Star Tribune’s David Joles. Lots of great student work was shown from the year end Wisconsin student POY contest along with the award winning work [...]
Postponed – Boyd Photo Night 4/16/2011- Postponed
Photo Night in Boyd, Kentucky at the Jack Gruber farm on April 16, 2011 Postponed Due to Forcasted Bad Weather Unfortunately, extended weather forcasts show rain and bad weather on April 16. In order to be safe, we are postponing the Boyd Photo Night until later date. Hopefully, later in the year with a bit [...]
State of the Union
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress with me shooting (below middle) from the House Press Gallery. Very tight and not much room to maneuver but as usual, things work out just fine. Crazy tidbit of the night, while walking over from Union Station to The Capitol, I somehow managed to lose [...]
Nikon D3S Taking The Heat
Sitting here at USA TODAY the other day talking about the D3S during a visit with Nikon’s Design Department General Manager Koichiro Kawamura and Technical and Engineering Liaison Kenji Suzuki along with Nikon’s Bill Pekala and Mark Suban, I realized the D3S has pretty much all the bells and whistles I really want and need [...]
Sounds of Afghanistan
Combat Outpost Kunjak based 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment marines during quiet moments along with fellow Afghan National Police in the Helmand Province near Musa Qala, Afghanistan. This was one of those moments during the long stretches of not much happening between missions. Marines looking for an escape from the heat sit with their Afghan [...]
Kid Rock
Spent a quick afternoon with Kid Rock at his home in Clarkston, Michigan talking about his country-leaning album ‘Born Free’. First impressions, Kid Rock (aka Robert Ritchie) is a really nice guy. Second, something I never thought I would hear coming from Kid Rock’s mouth…his fondness for “antiquing”. Finally, a very cool album cover with [...]
Kunjak Saturday Night
CLICK HERE FOR MOVIE Spent a week in Helmand, Afghanistan with marines from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment and a small number of Afghan National Police living on a small, remote outpost. This is really out in the middle of nowhere and deep in the heart of Taliban country. Most of the marines dispatched [...]
DC Housewife Michaele Salahi
After a rocky start with the Bravo PR folks thinking they were at an address in Georgetown (they were actually in Chevy Chase, MD) waiting for myself and a reporter to connect, I finally hooked up with Michaele Salahi after a long cab ride to Maryland and spent a few hours with the DC Housewife [...]
Robert Duvall at Byrnley Farm
Spent a few minutes with Academy Award winning actor Robert Duvall at his Revolutionary War-era, 362-acre farm, known as Byrnley Farm, in The Plains, Virginia. Mr. Duvall was doing press for the upcoming film “Get Low” due out in a July 2010. Meeting Robert Duvall was a hoot but I have to admit, I was [...]
Sunday at the Masters
Sunday’s final round at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia is hard to beat. The weather is usually beautiful and some high drama always plays out on the green at 18. I am not a golf crazy fan and insane as it seems, I have only been on a golf course as a player maybe a [...]
2010 Masters Tournament
I am down in Augusta, GA for a week of Masters golf coverage. The only golf I really shoot these days is shooting the first major tournament of the year here at Augusta National Golf Club. The Masters organization really keeps a tight grip on the number of credentials issued to photographers and writers. The [...]
Cinderella William and Mary
I was down at the Richmond Coliseum for the Colonial Athletic Association championship game between Old Dominion and William and Mary. Hoping this cinderella story was the making of something big, I was there in case William and Mary knocked off favored and regular season conference champions Old Dominion gaining an automatic bid into the [...]
Olympic Torch
Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky runs with the Olympic torch to light the Vancouver 2010 Olympic cauldron at the conclusion of the Olympic opening ceremony. It was a very wet night in a pouring rain as “The Great One” entered the plaza to bring the Olympic flame from the BC Place and the Olympic opening [...]
Vancouver Oly Prep
Getting to Vancouver a few days before the Olympic opening ceremonies is always a busy time. Spent part of the morning running over one hundred feet of ethernet line in the rafters of the Canada Place Olympic hockey venue with my coworker Bert Hanashiro. The ethernet line will connect remote camera in the overhead catwalks [...]
The Rose Bowl
I didn’t really dawn on me until I arrived in Los Angeles for the 2010 BCS Championship game between Texas and Alabama that I have not been back on the west coast working since moving to Washington, DC in late 2008. It was like being home again. Getting to see and work alongside dozens of [...]
Obama in the Map Room
I spent the better part of a morning and afternoon this week getting up well before the HOV lanes heading into DC kicked into gear at 6:30am in order to get myself to the White House before the work day traffic hit. Working at the White House is not an everyday event for me. Just [...]
